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Runway and taxiway markings must be maintained in order to keep compliance with FAA regulations. Every year airports go through recertification by an FAA inspector who will evaluate the condition of the airfield, including signage, markings, and perimeter fencing. The knowledge of airport operations and airfield maintenance employees will also be tested, as the FAA requires personnel to be adequately trained. Airports abide by regulations found in the ACs (Advisory Circulars), which change over time. When the ACs change, airports are required to adjust. The inspector may write up several instances of the airport not in regulation, then will be given a deadline to fix the issues. Many airports take pride in the condition of their airfield and spend millions of dollars to keep the condition beyond what is required.
In preparation for my airport’s recertification in July we contracted the project out to a widely known company that travels around the nation painting airfields using highly technological equipment. The project for our airport to remove and repaint 70% of the total markings cost just over $500,000. After weeks of planning and mapping to determine which markings need to be removed and repainted, a team showed up with several pieces of equipment to do the job.
I assume most pilots are aware of what yellow chevrons represent, but if you fly and do not then keep reading because you need to know. Chevrons are yellow and designate an area that cannot be used for taxiing, typically found prior to a runway threshold. Chevrons are used in areas that contain approach lighting systems and are not built or stressed to support large aircraft. I remember learning this during my private pilot training, but apparently there are enough rusty airline pilots out there that seem to have forgotten because the issue became large enough that our airport had to figure out a better way to deter pilots while adhering to a strict budget.
The north and south runway at my local airport is perpendicular to that of another which is separated only by yellow chevrons. Aircraft landing from the north on are tempted to turn right at the first available intersection, five thousand feet down the runway which happens to be east runway. The Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) has made the mistake of telling pilots to “turn right at the first intersection, contact ground…” Although the statement does not directly tell the pilot to taxi on the chevrons it does create confusion. Once the phrase was corrected the incidents dropped steadily, but not entirely.